Generally, under today’s environmental laws, certain kinds of projects have to do an environmental review (Like an EIS). Other kinds of projects can be exempted. The BP oil spill at Deepwater Horizon has been a sobering reminder of why these kinds of environmental reviews and exemptions are so critical. (Can you believe THIS was exempted from EIS?)

Today, DLNR is proposing a “wild laundry list” of EIS exemptions for DLNR-managed lands, from building new roads to chemical herbicides. That’s 57 pages (fifty-seven!) of exemptions. Yeesh. We are asking the Office of Environmental Quality and Control (OEQC) to send DLNR back to the drawing board. If you or your organization is interested in participating in a group letter to OEQC or just want to know more about this issue, please contact Marti at marti@kahea.org by Friday morning.

The UH Board of Regents made big “TAH-DAH!” over approving their giant Thirty Meter Telescope project for Mauna Kea this summer. Plenty press releases, plenty press. KAHEA staff tend to kind of shrug over this kind of “approval”, but after hearing so many comments and questions from all of you, we decided we should address it. Fundamental question: WHY is the Board of Regents approving TMT?

The term “manufacturing consent” comes to mind. Hmm.

Okay, let’s say for example, that Kanoe and Tyler want to build a parking lot in your front yard. Kanoe writes the proposal. Tyler votes to approve her proposal, and sends out a press release saying “Parking lot approved!” And your neighbors think, “”My, my. There’s going to be a parking lot over there.” Now, did you get any say about this parking lot? Nope! Does it matter? Of course it does.

A little tutorial on developing conservation lands, and looking good while doing it:

Mauna Kea is public trust “ceded lands” and a conservation district. This means that the mountain is to be managed “in trust” for the people of Hawai’i, and that its natural and cultural resources are to be protected and sustained. Under state law, the responsibility for managing these lands falls to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). DLNR does not financially benefit directly from development of Mauna Kea, and it is the agency with the mandate under state law to protect and conserve these lands.

Yet.

Today, the University Board of Regents appoints 100% of members to the Office of Mauna Kea Management. The Regents appoint 100% of the members of Kahu Ku Mauna. The University paid the consultant who wrote the management plan for Mauna Kea. At the end of the day, we have to ask: Who’s interests are being represented? Who is being left out?

So many have worked so hard and sacrificed so much, to get us to where we are today. Twenty years ago, the University and the UH Institute for Astronomy could not and would not even acknowledge the existence of clear problems. Two lawsuits and two state audits later, we can finally openly acknowledge past wrongs, and talk about impacts of astronomy development on cultural and natural resources. Not just on Mauna Kea, but Hawai’i's other sacred summits as well.

But without true change in management (!), it’s just that: talk.

If you support true community management of Hawai’i's sacred summits, you can join with the thousands of others around Hawai’i who are saying “Enough already” and demand a truly pono future for some of Hawai’i's most sacred places. Sign the petition today!

On August 26, the BLNR will hear public testimony on the 14-story telescope proposed for Haleakala. We really need community members to show up early, sign up to speak, and give testimony on this giant telescope proposal. You can read the flyer here.

From Kilakila Haleakala:

All studies done for the proposed project indicate that in addition to the misuse of conservation lands, there will be major, adverse, short- and long-term direct impacts on traditional and cultural resources. We must let them know know that our summit will not be furuther desecrated.

This weekend we hosted our fourth Environmental Justice Bus Tour–this time with an added stop at the Farmer’s Market. Mahalo to everyone who came out to learn more about Wai`anae! We had a great mix of people hailing from far and wide. Groups represented were Nakem Youth (from Kalihi), CEJE, Hawai`i Farm Union, the Hawai`i Independent, and the Lawai`a Action Network–as well as some community members. Special shout out to Nakem Youth for blogging your reflections of the bus tour! Check it out! Here is some of their powerful testimony:

Mark: “We gotta change our public perception of Waianae. I didn’t know about the agricultural lands, it was beautiful to see and very different from the way the mainstream media presents it.”

Sonny: “I have family members who live in Waianae and I fear for their lives. There are many kids who run around and I don’t want them getting hit by trucks…”

Rochie: “I live in Waianae I didn’t know what was really happening. The dumpsite was all blocked and I thought it was for housing development. We need more transparency from these companies and the state.”

Powerful! More at their blog. Mahalo to Nakem Youth member, Mark Fiesta, also for putting up such beautiful photos of the event. Here’s a link to his blog. Solidarity is a beautiful thing. Mahalo to everyone for coming, if you are interested in joining our next tour, it is on August 28th. Email shelley@kahea.org for more information.

The Ho‘ike for the second graduating class of Ka Makani Kaiaulu o Wai‘anae that was held last friday totally renewed my internal spring of hope for the future of Hawai‘i. Ten young people with nothing in common, but their home along the Wai‘anae Coast, came together to learn about the history and power of social justice movements in Hawai‘i and around the world… and they got to participate in a little movement building themselves.

“Waianae needs more voices,” the returning institute student added. “A lot of people are affected by what’s going on but don’t do anything about it. It’s like an ongoing unfinished project. … We are just trying to do our part and along the way we are learning so much about Waianae, the cultural history, and the impact we can have on our future; not just in the community but the whole world if we do something.”

These students are an inspiration. Smart, compassionate, and full of possibility. The hope is to continue this program next summer or maybe even expand it into a year-long program. To do that, though, would mean a lot of community support and financial backing. If you are interested in donating to this program, click here.

I have to admit, I was nervous going into a rural community knocking on doors, but everyone was really nice. They were thankful we came by because otherwise they would have never known that an industrial park is being proposed. Of course it helped being with Aunty Alice Greenwood, who everyone knows, and it felt good to hear people express their gratitude for her determination to fight. Those kind words are important to me because I’m always wary to get into other people’s business–knowing that we have their blessing and request to move forward tells me that we’re on the right path!

One thing that really tugged at my heartstrings was meeting more than one family that lost their farm in the Kalama Valley evictions in the 1970s. These families relocated to Wai`anae and 35 years later are again facing the displacement of their family business and rural lifestyle- -from some of the same developers!

For rural Hakimo Road, the developer’s own numbers cites an additional 522 trucks an hour during peak hours! I don’t even know how that is possible, but that figure comes directly out of their EIS report. The only legal access to the property is rural Hakimo Road. (Though the proposed site is actually on Lualualei Naval Road, this private road requires an agreement with the Navy for regular access. Our calls to the Navy have confirmed that no such agreement exists!)

If you have ever been on Hakimo Road you will know that 1) there are NO sidewalks, 2) it is narrow and winding, and 3) is already dangerous at the current traffic level, let alone with the addition of over 500 big trucks! One resident pointed out to us, “Go walk up and down, you’ll see flowers at almost every turn marking all the accidents!”–it was so sad, she was right. There’s a preschool on this road and many residents are worried about the health and safety of the kamalii (little ones) who go to school there.

Can you imagine if this was going on in your neighborhood? You can sign here to stand in solidarity with this community!

Welcome Tyler Gomes! Tyler is serving as a summer legal Fellow at KAHEA through the Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the UH Richardson School of Law. He has been working at KAHEA’s Environmental Justice Program, assisting Staff Attorney Marti Townsend with a petition by the Concerned Elders of Waianae to intervene at the state’s Land Use Commission.

Last week, Tyler was witness to an amazing victory–the LUC unanimously granted the Elders petition!

This intervention will allow them them to formally bring evidence and testimony about why they oppose changing the zoning of a large parcel of agricultural and preservation land to allow industrial land use. This zoning change would allow the construction of a large industrial park next to small farms and homes in the back of Lualualei Valley on O’ahu’s west side, and pave the way for a proposed new landfill. (The developers are also seeking this zoning change through the Sustainability Plan process, which we’ve written about here.) This community is a population center for one of the largest communities of Native Hawaiians in the islands.

Over 400 of you have already signed the petition in support of farms, not dumps for the Waianae Coast! Mahalo! To add your name, click here: http://tiny.cc/purplespotpetition

From Tyler, in his own words:

On July 1, the Land Use Commission held a preliminary hearing on whether the Concerned Elders of Waianae can intervene on Tropic Land’s proposal to reclassify farmland to urban and build an industrial park at the back of Lualualei Valley. The Concerned Elders are an all-volunteer group of mostly aunties who want to protect the Waianae they love.

Before I give you the scoops on the day-long process, some back story:
In the process to change a boundary classification (whether a piece of land can used for a farm, a house, or a shopping mall), the LUC gives a chance for people other than the property owner, the state office of planning, and the city department of planning to also be parties to the decision-making process. As parties, you get to put on evidence, question the other parties’ witnesses, and make detailed written suggestions to the LUC every step of the way. It is a lot of work and it is not easy to get. But, the Concerned Elders wanted to be at that table.

So our sole obstacle was: prove that the Elders have a reason to be at the table.

But…sometimes…things don’t happen as planned. Sometimes somebody might miscount a day and miss the filing deadline. That’s exactly what happened. I know. It was heartbreaking for all of us. We were told — on multiple occassions, by multiple people — these LUC rules are complicated and hard to follow and totally unforgiving. That was where our second obstacle came in: how do we address the fact that we filed late?
Thanks to some creative legal research I found a “Motion to Waive Commission Rule.” It had gotten a pardon for other mistakes made before other commissions in other jurisdictions, maybe it would work here, too. So, we immediately filed a follow up motion to support our petition… and waited for Tropic Land’s response. Nothing came. Did they waive their objection to our request to intervene? Highly unlikely. We called the LUC. No, they did file an objection, but they just sent our copy to the completely wrong address — someplace in Oregon. Here was our chance! Surely the LUC would forgive our one-day late filing, when a fancy, well-experienced law firm could make a similarly human mistake. We were back in the game; admittedly, with only one day before the hearing to file our reply to their opposition. In 24 hours, we wrote a brief to answered every one of their objections to our intervention, got declarations from members signed, made 20 copies of everything, collated it (on the floor) and served it — properly — on all parties.

So the LUC hearing addressed two things: 1) Should the LUC give us an extra day and excuse the late filing? and 2) Should the LUC give the Elders their seat at the table?

Here’s the play by play:
8:20 AM- Marti and I trek to the office from our parking gravel pit (four blocks away)…IN THE RAIN.

8:30 AM- We get in and begin prepping whatever documents she may need to reference, getting everything in order, whilst drying off.

9:00 AM- We get to the LUC and students from the Kamakani Kaiaulu O Wai‘anae are all there prepared with signs and speeches. They’re excited. It seems to be the general mood of the morning. Kind of like static electricity, but the good kind.

9:15 AM- The room is already filled, and we’re second on the docket. So there’s a crowd outside. The LUC staff is adamant that the public testimony needs to be about why the Elders should be given their seat, NOT why an industrial park should be built in Wai’anae (though there are so many reasons).

9:30 AM- The first item is up on the docket. Some of the kids sit inside to listen with Aunty Alice and Ms. Nordlum. The first item is a status update, so this should end quickly. Marti, Aunty Walterbea, Shelley, Miwa, Kanoe, Ms. Stack, and myself sit outside on the floor and prepare.

10:00 AM- Still waiting. The excitement is wearing off.

10:30 AM- Quick?

11:00 AM- The LUC takes a break and lets us know to come back at 1:30 PM for our hearing. The kids are a bit restless because they’ve been sitting for almost two hours, and now we need to make arrangements because they weren’t anticipating staying in town for so long. The kids’ testimony also needs to be edited. There is concern that the LUC may be a bit touchy after the long morning, and having multiple kids each read a piece of the testimony may not over well. They decide that they’ll all stand, but one student will read the testimony. The kids go on a downtown field trip for lunch. Marti, Shelley, and I head to the office to regroup and rethink. Many of our Elders have to leave because of the unexpected plans.

1:30 PM- Back at the LUC. We’ve had lunch and talked it through. We’ve got answers for every question they could throw at us. Exhibits. Caselaw. The Wai‘anae Sustainable Communities Plan. The EIS — tabbed ad infinitum. We were set. Some might think us “rag-tag,” but even rag-tag can never be too prepared.

1:35 PM- The head of the LUC reminds us that our public testimony should not speak to the merits of an industrial park; just why the Elders should get their seat at the table. It seems to be a point of concern for the LUC.

1:40 PM- At this point, the excitement got so high, I don’t really have any concept of time.
They begin. The Kamakani kids give a great testimony about why the kupuna should be admitted. Heartfelt. Tearjerking for some. Legit.

Then Aunty Walterbea offers her testimony. It spoke to the point and was so real. Marti asked Aunty Walterbea some clarifying questions in order to strengthen the arguments.

The LUC asks for any more witnesses. No others?

Wait! One of the Kamakani kids, Kimi Korenaga, volunteered to give her own testimony, much to everyone’s surprise. She spoke about how the kupuna have offered her such a unique point of view in life, it would be unwise to dismiss the kind of knowledge and insight they have in the proceedings. She brought the hammer down on the nail’s head.

The LUC then asks Marti for her argument about our shot-in-the-dark “Motion to Waive Commission Rule.” Marti takes full blame for miscounting the days. True leadership. While anyone could’ve caught the mistake, Marti explains to the Commission that she miscounted. She then cites a Supreme Court case that procedural rules are not there as a “game of skill” to boot out players on a small slip-up, but rather ensure a “proper decision on the merits.” Marti continues on about how we fixed the issue immediately in less than 24 hours and we have proven that we are committed to a fair process.

Commissioner Devens clarifies: it was just miscounting, and it was rectified immediately. Marti also reminds the Commission that anyone can make this mistake, and that even Tropic Lands can sympathize with the inability to serve papers on time.

Tropic Lands objects without comment. Department of Permitting and Planning does not object. The Office of Planning does not object. The LUC throws the motion on the table, it’s seconded. The Comission takes a roll call vote……

8-0! Unanimous. They’ve waived their deadline rule, and without hesitation grant us the extra day…which means we aren’t technically late anymore!

Now onto the meatier of the two issues. Should the Elders be admitted? (Obviously! But does the Commission think so?)

Again, Marti gives our statement. Emphasizing the unique interests of the Elders. Explaining why the Elders will be affected by the outcome of this decision, and therefore they should participate in this decision-making process. Commissioner Devens again asks for clarification regarding the Elders’ group itself. Marti explains about the history of the Elders. He’s satisfied.

Tropic Lands, unsurprisingly, objects with no comments. The DPP does not object. The OP conditionally supports our petition. The Commission throws down a motion to grant our petition.

Whoa. Wait. Where’s the questions? And the interrogations? We have citations! And papers. Lots of papers! And answers! We have tons of answers! But that seems to be it. The staff prepares to take the roll call.
But wait, the OP has one more question. The petition to intervene says that Marti is currently the attorney for the Elders. Will there be someone else? Marti, very humbly, tells the Commission that we’re actively looking for a more experienced attorney who “knows what they’re doing” because this is the closest she’s come to this type of work before the Commission. She asks the LUC for any suggestions. They laugh (this disproves my theory that Commissioners are robots.) Marti explains, though, that until they find someone, she has vowed to stand by the Elders until the end. Very chivalrous. The Deputy Attorney General tells Marti that she’s doing a great job, because, duh, she is!

At this point Marti, Shelley, and I have this odd moment of clarity. You know that feeling where you realized you’ve prepared yourself so much more than you ever needed to? That’s the feeling we got.

They take the roll call vote in support…

1 yes. 2 yes’. 3…4…5…6…7…and…8! YAHTZEE!!! Again unanimous. There seems to be a common air of disbelief at how simple it all was. Tears are shed. Many tears are shed. Two wins in a row provides great momentum for the hearings to come!

We regroup in the lobby and discuss how great it went. There are some fantastical dance moves thrown around. Some wildly giddy laughs. A plethora of smiles. Hugs and kisses. More dancing, just me though. Marti thanks the kids for coming out and representing their communities. They perform Oli Mahalo to the Elders that were able to stay, and Aunty Walterbea responds with Oli Aloha. It all seems so….balanced. Pono, if you will.